Sandhurst was looking to get back on the winners list in the 2nd XI against a side that had been regular finalists of late. Trumpy won the toss and batted, but things got off to a terrible start when Clinton Botham was dismissed LBW off the 1st ball of the 2nd over. Alex Trump then joined Crouchy at the crease and the pair looked very solid in building a seventy run partnership. The partnership was highlighted by final proof that Travis Crouch is super human. A freakish piece of fielding from one of the Jets players would have run out any mere mortal, but not the lightning paced Travis Crouch who amazingly made his ground when any other batsmen would have been stranded 10 feet or more from his crease.
Unfortunately nearing tea, Crouchy was finally dismissed for 42, and when Trumpy fell soon after for a patient 16. Bryden Mcfarlane and Leigh Draper then saw us through to tea at 3 for 90.Sandhurst needed to solidify their position and then aim to pick up the scoring rate with wickets in hand at the end of the innings. Unfortunately wickets fell regularly and only Traviss Russell offered any real resistance with a gritty 20, as Sandhurst were dismissed for 127 in the 76th over.
Sandhurst then had 5 overs to make some inroads into the Strathfieldsaye top order, and Alex Trump took no time to break his wicket drought in the first over well caught by Crouchy in slips as Strathfieldsaye scrapped through to 1 for 9 without further loss.
Day 2 started with Sandhurst needing quick wickets to give themselves a chance of winning the game. With “Chooka” and Trumpy steaming in eager for wickets creating chances from the outset. the breakthrough finally came when Steve Rainey picked out Chooka in the deep off Trumpy’s bowling to have Strathfieldsaye 2 for 30. Chooka and Trumpy bowled marathon opening spells and Chooka was eventually rewarded with the wicket of the dangerous Matt Cameron for 3 to have Strath 3 for 39. Then when Jack Kennedy also fell to Chooka Strath were 4 for 49 and looking a little shaky. The picture could have been even brighter for the Dragons with two confident appeals for a caught and bowled and regulation caught behind were both inexplicably turned down.
From their Strathfieldsaye were able to build a match winning partnership of 49 runs before Dale Warren was thrown the ball and came up with two wickets in an over removing mainstays Millard and Hansen to give Sandhurst the slightest sniff with the Jets still requiring 32 to win with 4 wickets in hand. That was where the contest ended as the ball became greasier and deteriorated further by the persistent showers not even a 2nd rain break could save the Dragons as Strathfieldsaye scored the winning runs in the 45th over and called an early finish to proceedings at 6 for 164.
Again Sandhurst’s batsmen had let it down and despite the committed effort with the ball and in the field had lost the opportunity to beat a proven 2nd XI contender. Travis Crouch was finally rewarded for some consistent form with the bat in top scoring with 42 as the only batsman to pass 20 in difficult batting conditions.
3rd XI @ Queen Elizabeth Oval
Late week rain leading up to the 3rd XI clash with Strathfieldsaye and the return of cricket to the QEO for the first time in season 2008/2009 meant that week 1 of the match was abandoned on Friday night and provided the giraffe with a valuable sleep in. Week two rolled along and again late week rain threatened the possibility of the game being played as a one day game. Even beginning. Fortunately the covers did their job and Jack Connelly did the rest enabling a 30 over a side game to get underway on the 2nd morning.
Trewy won the toss and sent Strathfieldsaye in, hoping to make the most of the life in the wicket early on. The experienced Strathfieldsaye handled the conditions well and made a solid start before Dave Hunter snared the break through with the score on 26 in the 7th over. The Strathfieldsaye top order batsmen continued on and scored with relative ease adding close to 50 for the 2nd wicket before Paul Stingel drew a false stroke to have Strathfieldsaye 2 for 76 in the 20th over.
Keith Cloke then came on in his traditional role as a death bowler and picked up the dangerous Brad Rohde LBW for 41 and when he claimed his 2nd wicket of the innings in his 3rd over. Paul Stingel then put Strathfieldsaye back on their heels with wickets in successive balls both clean bowled. When Matt Felini claimed his 1st wicket for the innings, and when some sharp work in the field from Leigh Draper led to a run out to begin the final mover, followed up by Keith Cloke’s 3rd wicket for the innings Strathfieldsaye had been reigned in to finish 9 for 120 from 29 overs. Keith Cloke 3/27, Paul Stingel 3/32 Matt Felini 1/14 and Dave Hunter 1/17 the wicket takers and best bowlers.
Still 120 was a more than competitive total given the strength of the Strathfieldsaye bowling attack and a big innings was required from one of the top order from which the rest of the team could bat around. The innings got off on the wrong foot with the loss of Keith Cloke bowled in the first over, and when Trew, Kinners and Draper fell before the score had reached 20 things were looking grim. Matt Felini refused to be bogged down and found the fence with a couple of quality shots before he thought he’d truly get value for money from his bat and used the back of his bat - a failed experiment as the ball lobbed to square leg and was caught for 15. The only other batsman to show anything was Jayden Saunders who applied himself well to make 12 runs. In all it was a very sick looking scorecard with 6 ducks for the innings as the side was dismissed for 48 in the 19th over.
The loss is a major wake up call for the previously undefeated 3rd XI, and shows they still have a lot of work to do to secure a finals berth. Man of the match was a difficult choice for all the wrong reasons with Matt Felini’s all round performance just getting the nod.
Hopefully all three grades have heeded the coaches advice and place far greater value on their wicket for the upcoming battle with QEO co-tenant Bendigo this coming round.